The Right Decision (DR/CH)
by cein
Summary: How I thought Carol and Doug would get back together (doesn't follow the series)


This is the first fan-fiction that I ever wrote  
Its set just after the episode "Under Control"  
  
  
THE RIGHT DECISION  
  
Carol sat at her kitchen table with her head buried in her hands. The silence of the house overwhelmed her, but she knew it would only last as long as her mother was minding her daughters. Although normally she missed every minute spent apart from Kate and Tess, she was grateful that her mother wasn't bringing them home for a few more hours.  
  
As usual when she thought of her children, Doug sprang to mind. She could still see him walking away from her as he had done over a year ago. She could remember how much it hurt her to let him go, the disappointment in his eyes when she told him she wouldn't leave Chicago. At the time the thought of leaving her home was worse than losing Doug and though she cried herself to sleep at nights for a month after he left she still believed she had made the right decision.... until now.  
  
Ever since Lucy and Carter had been stabbed one thought had been running through Carols mind. "It could have been me".  
  
She had been on duty that day, she had passed by Curtain area three a dozen, no maybe a hundred times during her shift. When she left the hospital Lucy and Carter were already bleeding on the floor.  
  
All she could think of was what would have happened to her girls if she had been the one to look for Lucy, or if she had gone into curtain area three for any reason while that maniac was running around with a six inch butcher knife.   
  
Now a week later she had come to a decision. The girls needed more than one parent; Doug wasn't going to make the first move. It had to be her.  
  
She picked up the phone and dialled a number she had memorized the day she was given it. The phone rang for a few seconds and then switched to an answering machine..."hi this is Doug, leave a message after the tone". The sound of his voice after so long nearly made Carol forget why she was calling; she hesitated for a few seconds, and then spoke. "Doug it's Carol. I want to talk to you about our children. Please call me back"  
  
She hung up the phone and waited. She knew he'd phone.  
  
---------------------------------------------  
The right decision part II  
  
Meanwhile in Seattle, Doug emerged from a tangled heap of bedclothes and stared at the phone. Usually if the phone rang while he was asleep he roused sufficiently to listen to the message being left, and then went back to sleep (unless it was the hospital calling).  
When he had heard Carols voice he thought he was still dreaming. By the time he realised that this was real, she had already hung up. He replayed the message. ""Doug its Carol. I want to talk to you about our children. Please call me back"  
  
Doug hadn't heard Carols voice for almost six months. She had phoned him on Thanksgiving to tell him about the birth of his daughters, but again she had got the answering machine.   
  
Doug had been working through Thanksgiving. Since the move to Seattle, he had volunteered to work through most of the holidays. After all it wasn't as if he had any reason to stay at home. While Carol had been giving birth to his daughters Doug had been treating children who had eaten too much. He had worked late that shift and rather than rush home and back again he had slept at the hospital.   
  
Carols message was three days old by the time he thought to check his machine. Of course he tried to get in touch, but when he finally reached County General Carols OB nurse (Annie of Abby or something like that) told him that Carol wasn't taking any calls.  
At first he worried that she was too ill to speak to him, but a call to Mark informed him that it was just him she was not speaking to.   
  
Mark at least had let him explain why it had taken him so long to contact Carol, and he had promised to try and explain to Carol, but all in vain.  
  
"She doesn't want to talk to you Doug. She's made up her mind that she's going it alone."  
  
"But what about Kate and Tess? Don't they deserve a father?"  
  
"Carol said that when they're old enough, they can decide if they want to see you or not. I'm sorry Doug."  
  
Since then Doug had tried to phone Carol on a number of occasions. He had left messages at work, on her answering machine. Finally one day he got her mother on the phone. She informed him that Carol was doing fine without him and would he stop bothering her. After that he didn't try so often. He accepted the fact that he had two more children who wouldn't know who he was.   
  
He stared at the phone for a few minutes. What did Carol mean? Had something happened to one of the girls? Could he hope that Carol had changed her mind about letting him see them? Or was it just that she had changed her mind about child support and was going after him for maintenance. He dismissed that last thought as being unworthy of Carol. Finally he could bear the suspense no longer and picked up the phone.  
  
  
---------------------------------  
The right decision part III of III  
  
In Chicago a phone rang.  
  
Instinctively Carol snatched it up. Even though the twins were with her mother and not asleep, it was second nature by now to silence any noise as quickly as possible.   
  
"Hello"  
  
"Carol is that you? It's me.....Doug "  
"Carol are you there?"  
  
Carol squeezed the handset so tightly she thought it would break. A part of her had hoped that Doug would not phone back, at least not so quickly. Even though she had made the decision to call him she still hadn't decided what she was going to say to him when or if he phoned back.  
Her first instinct was to hang up, but she knew he would try again.  
  
"Hello Doug"  
  
"Carol.....I was worried when you phoned. Are the girls alright?"  
"They're fine. They're with my mother."  
  
There was a silence while they both tried to think of what to say next. Doug wanted to ask why Carol had phoned, but felt it was up to her to lead the way. Carol was still trying to figure out what to tell Doug. Doug finally broke the silence.  
  
"I heard what happened on Valentines Day. Are you ok?"  
"I'm fine. I wasn't even there when it happened. At least, I was there but I had left before they....before they found Lucy and Carter"  
"Poor kids. Lucy would have made a great doctor. How's Carter doing?"  
"He's just started back to work. I'm sure he'll be fine. Did you hear that Jeanie left? She got married and adopted a little boy and then left to spend more time with her family"  
  
Carol was suddenly aware that the topic of families was not one she wanted to get involved with, not just yet. She tried to change the subject.  
  
"Oh and we have a really obnoxious resident called Malucci. He thinks he knows it all and acts like he's Gods gift to women."  
"Sounds familiar. He isn't a paediatrician by any chance?"  
"Oh come on you were never that bad"  
"I was probably worse. Carol you didn't call me to talk about Carter or Jeanie or Malatucci or whatever his name is. Why did you call?"  
  
Carol took a deep breath. It was no use delaying it any longer.   
"I've been thinking about Tess and Kate, and their future. And what their future would be if I'm not around to take care of them."  
"Carol is something wrong? Are you sick? Is that why you're calling?"  
  
Doug's mouth was dry. The thought that Carol could be sick or dying filled him with dread. Even though they were apart he had taken comfort in the knowledge that she was safe and well. Surely even this comfort wasn't going to be taken from him.  
  
"No Doug it's not that.  
It's just that it could easily have been me who got stabbed that night. I can't get it out of my mind. I know the odds of it happening again are slim, but anything could happen to me and that would leave Tess and Kate alone and helpless."  
  
"You know I'd take care of them if anything happened to you."  
"I know that. But I don't want them to be suddenly taken away from everything they know, if something were to happen to me."  
"So what are you saying Carol"  
"I'm saying that if you still want me in your life, I want us to be a family. I don't care whether its Chicago, Seattle or the middle of nowhere, I just want the four of us to be together."  
  
There was silence on the other end of the phone.  
"Doug, are you there?"  
  
"Carol I love you. And I promise you we will make this work."  
  
"I know you will. And I love you too."  
  
Carol heard her mother at the door. "Doug the girls are here. I'll call you when I get them settled, and then we can make plans."  
Doug agreed and they both hung up.  
  
Carol sat at her kitchen table. Doug sat on his bed. Although they were a few thousand miles apart, for the first time in over a year they were both together and they knew that this time it was going to work.  
  
THE END  



End file.
